


photo albums and family dinners

by buckscasey



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comfort, Established Relationship, Family Reunions, Fluff, M/M, Meet the Family, Post Episode: S02E02, Self-Esteem Issues, True Love, brief mentions of previous relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:49:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29274234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckscasey/pseuds/buckscasey
Summary: "So, when are we talking about it?”"About what?" Carlos asked absentmindedly. He knew exactly what TK was talking about, the subject had been hanging over them like a dark cloud for weeks now and he hated it."The elephant in your living room Carlos, about me meeting your parents."orTK finally meets Carlos' family.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 5
Kudos: 198





	photo albums and family dinners

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this after 2x02, then I blocked but the promo for 2x04 inspired me again. Even if I totally ignored what the promo showed lol.

"I have to admit it, I'm really enjoying these dinners with your parents," Carlos said as he plopped down on the couch next to his boyfriend, "especially tonight's, you were a really adorable baby." 

"Hey, I'm still adorable," TK protested, playfully hitting Carlos in the arm. He knew that after all their dinners together, it was only a matter of time until the photo albums came out, but it still had been really embarrassing when his mother had brought out a huge photo book filled with pictures of him as a baby. “But you’re right, it's been really nice to spend time with both of my parents together without any arguments, not sure how much longer that will last."

"I don't know, they still seem happy and stable right now, maybe you should give them some credit.”

“Yeah, maybe,” TK answered, trying to pay attention to the movie that was playing on the tv but his mind was focused on something else, "So, when are we talking about it?” 

"About what?" Carlos asked absentmindedly, his gaze still fixed on the screen. He knew exactly what TK was talking about, the subject had been hanging over them like a dark cloud for weeks now and he hated it. 

"The elephant in your living room Carlos, about me meeting your parents."

He wasn’t sure if he should be bringing this topic up again, he didn’t want Carlos to feel pressured, but ever since his father’s remission party a couple of weeks ago, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about why his boyfriend had dodged his question about meeting his parents so sternly. His mind had come up with different scenarios and they all filled him with anxiety; before that talk, he’d never thought that Carlos might be hesitant of their relationship, now he couldn’t get that thought out of his mind. 

Carlos sighed loudly and turned off the TV, fully focusing on his upset boyfriend now. 

"Why don’t you want me to meet your parents? Is it because you're unsure of me? Of our relationship?" he blurted out. 

"No babe, of course not. I love you and what we have,” Carlos assured, placing a featherlight kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead and wrapping his arms around the other man. 

"Then what is it?" TK asked, hating how small his voice sounded. 

"It's just that my parents can be a handful, especially my mom, she can be pretty intense and overprotective. I don't want her to overwhelm you. What if she scares you off?" he tried to joke but there was an emotion in his eyes that TK couldn't quite read. 

"Well, my mother wasn’t exactly easygoing the first time we hung together,” TK reminds him. Gwyn hadn't been thrilled when she arrived in Austin and TK informed her that he had started a new relationship, she believed it was too soon after what had happened with Alex. But then she’d met Carlos and the skepticism she had felt disappeared. “Plus, there's nothing or no one that could scare me away from you."

He saw the ghost of a smile forming on his boyfriend's lips and he knew his words had done the trick, "fine," Carlos said after a while, "Sunday works for you?" 

* * *

The rest of the week flew by, and now, TK was nervously fidgeting with the zipper of his green jacket as he stood next to Carlos outside his parents’ home. 

"Are you ready? We can still repent about this and walk away."

On any other occasion, TK would be amused with Carlos' words, but his boyfriend had been acting weird all week, and he wasn’t sure if Carlos was just joking or if he was actually regretting this meeting, "Yeah, I'm ready babe." 

"Okay," Carlos nodded resignedly and knocked on the door. He was definitely surprised to see who opened up the door. He'd been expecting to see his father, instead, it was his eldest sister who welcomed them and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Hey Caro, what are you doing here?"

"Um, mami invited all of us for Sunday's supper," she explained, "you're actually late, everyone's already here."

"Oh hi, you must be Carlitos' boyfriend," Carolina continued, completely ignoring the dumbfounded expression on his brother's face, she greeted TK who was standing behind Carlos, "I'm Carolina, his eldest sister."

"TK," he introduced himself, shaking Carolina's hand, "so happy to finally meet you." 

"Likewise, welcome to your first family Reyes supper," she smiled kindly at him. TK now believes that Carlos' sweet and recomforting smile it's definitely a family thing. "Everyone is in the backyard but mami's waiting for you two in the kitchen," Carolina announced before disappearing into the patio.

"How many people are we talking about?" TK questioned his boyfriend as they walked towards the kitchen.

"Well, it's a pretty packed bunch, to be honest. My parents, my three sisters, and their husbands plus the kids. Hopefully, mom didn't invite my aunties as well."

"Wow, I wasn't expecting such a multitude," TK half-joked. He had mentally prepared himself for meeting Carlos’ parents, but he suddenly felt overwhelmed knowing that instead, he would be meeting pretty much Carlos’ whole family. 

"Me neither," Carlos said apologetically, "I'm really sorry, I thought it would be just the four of us, I had no idea my mother would call the entire cavalry.” 

“Don’t worry it's okay," he stated, trying to reassure Carlos and calm his own racing thoughts. He reached for his boyfriend’s hand who was quick to grab hold of it, he felt instantly comforted by the small action.

“Whatever my mom says just don’t let her get into your head okay?” Carlos warned him, leaving TK even more confused, but before he had a chance to ask what that meant, they arrived at the kitchen.

"Mami," Carlos said, announcing their arrival. 

“Hola nene,” she smiled widely, lovingly wrapping her arms around Carlos, “I’m so happy to have you here.” They stayed like that for a little longer until he broke off the hug. 

"Well mami, this is my boyfriend," Carlos grinned at him and TK felt his heart leap and a fluttery feeling set in his stomach. They'd been together for almost six months, so of course, the boyfriend word had been used several times, but there was something about Carlos calling him  _ his boyfriend _ in front of his mother that made it all more special and real. 

"Mrs. Reyes, it's a real pleasure to meet you," he said, stretching out his hand to shake hers, "TK Strand."

"Oh, I’m gonna need a name honey,” she snickered, a jocose tone in her voice, “an acronym just won't work for me."

“Mom please,” Carlos interjected, "TK isn't a fan of his names, leave him alone."

"No, it's fine,” TK quickly assured, "you can call me Tyler I guess."

“That’s much better,” she gave him a wry smile, and he didn't know why but it had him feeling uneasy like Carlos’ mother wasn’t pleased with his presence for some reason. "Welcome to our home Tyler, food should be ready soon."

* * *

By the time they made it out to the backyard, everyone was already sitting at the large table. Carlos was quick to introduce TK to the rest of his family and no one made a big deal out of it, unquestionably welcoming him into their reunion like he was a part of them. The acceptance he felt in that moment relieved him from the stress the previous meeting had inadvertently caused. 

There was one problem though, all the seats were already taken except for two at the end of the table, but someone was sitting in between, meaning they couldn’t sit together. 

“Can you please switch places?” Carlos asked in an uncharacteristic sharp tone that TK was pretty sure he’d never heard before. 

“No,” answered an equally blunt voice, "I'm not moving  _ hermanito _ , but there's enough space for you guys here next to me," she said, patting the chairs at her side.

“Are you serious Camila?”

“What? I haven't seen you in months and I've missed you," she answered, clinging to his arm "but I also want to get to know this  _ guapo _ so this is the perfect seat for me. Can't you two be apart for five seconds?" 

"Fine," Carlos sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing with his sister, she always got away with everything, "so TK, this is Cami, my  _ annoying  _ twin sister," he introduced the two of them. 

TK stared at them for a few moments, the differences between the two of them were obvious, Camila was much shorter and slimmer than Carlos, her hair was a few shades lighter and straight but there were many similarities too, they had the same warm brown eyes, that dazzling and infectious smile, and by their little encounter, he could tell that they also shared the same sense of humor. 

He offered her his arm to shake hands but Cami had other plans, "don't be ridiculous, come here," she said before wrapping him in a big hug. “So happy to finally meet the guy who’s had my brother smitten for months.”

“How did you two meet?” Camila asked as she sat down next to TK, but before he had a chance to reply, she answered herself. “Uh, I know,” she beamed, “Carlitos burned down his kitchen while he tried to cook and you had to rescue his ass.”

“That’s not funny Camila,” Carlos stated seriously but there was a smile forming on his lips, “besides, I would never burn down my kitchen. That sounds like something you would do, but I'm a way better cook than you."

“You wish you were,” she quipped.

TK couldn't help but laugh at the playful banter between the siblings, it was really nice to see a side of his boyfriend that until that day had been unknown to him. "We first met during a call actually, it was one of my first rescues in here, a car accident,“ he smiled at the memory, he never imagined that he would meet the love of his life on a highway during a rainy night but he had. It was incredible to think how much his life had changed for the better in only a couple of months. 

"It was a pretty crazy call, there was a baby trapped in a tree," Carlos added, "somehow the force of the impact caused the baby seat to be ejected from the car and it got stuck in between some tree branches.” 

"Oh my god, did that actually happen?" 

"It did," TK replied, "I thought New York was crazy but Austin is definitely crazier. I've been here for less than a year and I've seen some wild stuff."

"I hope you have more of those fascinating rescue stories, I would love to hear them."

“Seriously Cam? You never ask me to tell you about my job!”

“Well, maybe I already like TK more than I like you,” Camila snickered, sticking out her tongue, “besides, firefighters are cooler than cops Carlitos,” she teased.

“You’re the worst,” Carlos said, rolling his eyes and pretending to sound offended.

“You still love me."

* * *

The barbacoa had been delicious, but the experience itself had been really different from what TK had expected. From what Carlos had told him about his mother, he had assumed she would question him non-stop all evening, but that didn't happen. 

He had been heavily interrogated though, once everyone had food on their stomachs, their mouths got loose and they asked him a million questions about anything and everything; about his job, to how different New York and Austin were, and even a little about his personal life and family. Carlos' nephews had been the most interested in his stories about different rescues and life as a firefighter. 

Honestly, he'd enjoyed everyone's questions more than he thought he would. No one had made him feel like he was being interrogated or judged, not even Carlos' father who seemed to strongly disagree with all of his favorite sports team’s choices. It was incredibly heartwarming how welcomed everyone had made him feel, well, almost everyone. 

Catalina hadn't uttered a single word to him during the entire meal, she had simply observed him like a hawk the whole time, like she was analyzing his every move, waiting for him to make a mistake. 

They all settled in a familiar conversation once the food was over when one question interrupted them all, "could you please help me get the dessert Tyler?" Catalina asked, standing up from her seat. TK felt everyone’s eyes staring at him and he was sure his cheeks were burning red. He immediately searched for Carlos' gaze for some kind of encouragement. 

"Sure Mrs. Reyes," he replied, trying to hide the nervousness that he felt from his voice. Carlos' mom wanted to talk to him alone, that couldn't be good, could it? 

"I can help you," Carlos offered but his mom was quick to dismiss him. “Tyler will help me.”

"Sorry," he muttered, throwing TK an apologetic look and a reassuring smile.

TK gave Carlos a thumbs up before standing up and following Catalina inside the house. 

"It seems like you caused quite the impression out there,” she affirmed, an indecipherable tone in her voice, "looks like everyone liked you.”

“It's a really nice family you have Mrs. Reyes, everyone was extremely kind to me," TK complimented, "and the food, just delicious."

Carlota simply nodded before asking, "did you know I've been asking my son for months to invite you over?" 

"Really? I've been doing the same thing. I mean, I've been really insistent with Carlos about wanting to meet his parents," TK smiled, maybe he had nothing to worry about, "really wondering why he was putting off this meeting then.”

"I think I know why," she said walking over to the fridge, "he probably thought I wasn’t gonna like you, or approve of this relationship."

Well, TK wasn't expecting that.

“You know, it’s been a long time since Carlos’ dated someone. I was starting to get worried, I thought he’d denied himself the chance of falling in love again after how badly his last relationship was. But then one day, a few months ago he called me because he'd met this amazing guy and he wanted to impress him with a nice dinner," she carried on, “I helped him over the phone to prepare a delicious red snapper. It’s not like he needed any help, he's a great cook but sometimes he doesn’t give himself enough credit.”

"Anyways, he was just so excited, and so was I, after everything that he’s been through, he deserved a nice boy who would treat him right. But you stood him up that night, and then kept disregarding his attempts to win you over. Tyler, you made him feel like he wasn’t good enough for you."

"I never meant to do that, I just wasn’t…" he started explaining but she quickly cut him off.

"I'm pretty sure all moms say this, but my boy out there, he is a special one," she bragged, looking out the window where they could see Carlos happily playing football with his youngest nephew, "he has the biggest heart I've ever known and doesn't deserve to be hurt."

"He really doesn’t, he’s perfect, he's everything," TK sighed, it was hard listening how much his initial rejection had affected Carlos, they had never really talked about it. He had tried to apologize once, but Carlos brushed him off, saying that it wasn't a big deal and there was nothing to be sorry for. The officer had referred to the night of the solar flare as their new beginning, leaving their rocky start behind.

"I thought you were just an entitled white boy playing with him and his heart. I wanted to protect him from another heartbreak,” Catalina confessed shyly, “and I'm not one to meddle in my children’s business, but I have to admit that I tried to convince Carlos to stop running after you, but clearly he didn’t listen to me. He was determined to get to you, said you were worth the effort.” 

It was surprising and extremely touching to find out that Carlos had fought so hard for them and their relationship than he'd ever imagined. TK didn’t know it was possible but he’s sure he's even more in love with the other man now.

“I completely understand, I kind of behaved like a jerk back then,” he confirmed a little ashamed of his actions at the beginning of their relationship, “but I swear Mrs. Reyes, I will never hurt your son, I love him," TK surprised himself with the easiness with which the words had left his mouth. He hadn’t said those three words to Carlos yet even if he'd been sure of his feelings for a while now, but here he was, pouring his heart open to his boyfriend’s mother.

“I think I can see that now,” she smiled warmly at him for the first time, the sternness on her gaze fading away, "those pretty green eyes of yours look at him like he hung the moon and stars."

"He did for me," TK babbled, he couldn't see it but he was sure he was blushing by now. He knew he was really oblivious when he stared at Carlos, his team always teased him because of that, telling him that he was the human version of the heart-eyes emoji whenever his boyfriend was around, it didn’t bother him that people noticed, but it was slightly embarrassing that Catalina had seen it too, "he’s the most amazing person I’ve ever met, he’s been really supportive and no one’s ever made me feel as special and loved as he does.” 

"That sounds like my boy, he cares deeply for the people he loves, and it’s obvious that he holds you very dear to his heart,” she smiled widely, her eyes twinkling with emotion. 

“So you’re okay with our relationship? You don’t hate me?”

"Of course not, Carlos looks happy, glowing, that’s all that really matters to me. And you look like a nice guy,” Catalina laughed, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly, “but this doesn't mean I'm letting you out of the hook okay? I'll still be keeping an eye on you Tyler, be careful.” 

"I'm fine with that," TK laughed. He loved Carlos, and his only plan was to make him happy for as long as Carlos would have him, forever sounded good. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always welcome (and appreciated)!  
> You can find me on Tumblr at sixringss.


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